Glass Craft and Bead Expo 2013

I am back from Glass Craft and Bead Expo 2013 in Las Vegas. I took a class called Two Intense Days of Something Different with Roz Stanton and Debbie Patana. It was indeed an intense two days. Roz and Debbie are enthusiastic teachers and love sharing their knowledge. The picture shows the projects we worked on in class using a variety of techniques.

While none of my pieces are exactly stunning, I did learn a lot about the different techniques and I am looking forward to trying these out again. The value in a class like this is not only do you learn from your own project, but you also learn from all of the other students projects.

In class we experimented with “boiled” glass, pressed glass, using frit, inclusions, flexi-glass, glass line paints and “sand” tapestry. There were also several demos including using Castalot and fiber blanket to make your own molds, screen melts, incorporating rocks into a design, and much more. All of these ideas will keep me busy for quite some time to come.

I also spent some time on the show floor. All the big name vendors were there. I stopped by the Toyo booth and they helped me out with a problem I was having with my glass cutter. In my opinion, they have the best glass cutters out there. I visited with Devon at the Bullseye Booth. She has corresponded with me by email several times helping me with a technical issue. It was nice to finally meet her. I bought some display stands like the one in the picture from Roz Stanton’s booth. In general, I don’t think there were a lot of bargains to be had, especially if you buy wholesale. I found only one or two vendors giving out product samples. The best deal for me was on the final day of the show when I stopped by Slumpy’s and bought a mold at 50% off.

The Expo is a lot of fun and it’s a great excuse to plan a getaway to Las Vegas. The only thing I wish they had was some sort of get together so artist who sell their work could mingle and share ideas.

I would also like to say, “thank you” to Bullseye Glass for their generous donations of class materials and Skutt Kilns for providing the kilns. It is greatly appreciated!